Delhi: As classes X, XII begin on Monday, govt schools to focus on fixing learning gaps

This academic year commenced on April 1 for students of classes nursery to 9 but the syllabus for these grades has not been touched yet. The focus has been on foundational reading, writing and numeracy to get them prepared to take on their grade-appropriate syllabus after the disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic and this will continue till June 15, through summer camps that will continue through the vacations.

A similar approach is going to be taken with classes X and XII whose new academic year will begin on May 9. “The prolonged closure of schools due to Covid-19 pandemic might have led to some gaps in the subject-specific competencies of the students. The students might not have developed adequate understanding of the different subjects in previous classes. Hence, a distinct plan of action has been worked out for the students of classes X and XII, through a combination of strategies to re-build their basic subject competencies and catch up with subject-specific curricular needs,” read a circular by the Directorate of Education.

According to this plan, the children of these grades are to be divided into three cohorts: one, students who are at the grade-appropriate level; the second of students below the grade-appropriate level; and the third of students appearing in supplementary or compartment exams to pass the previous grade.

Between May to June 15, the first cohort can “utilize library facilities for self-study” and contact their teachers for clearing doubts. The subject-specific learning gaps of students in the second cohort are to be identified and bridged by strengthening their understanding of topics in lower grades. For instance, for strengthening foundational competencies in math to catch up with curricular needs of class X, it has been suggested to begin with the class VI and VII concepts of natural and whole numbers, integers, fraction and decimals in the first week. After going through different topics of different grades through the weeks, in the sixth week, it has been suggested that the class VIII and IX topics line graph, probability and coordinate geometry be revisited.

In the case of the third cohort, between May 9 to 31, the focus will be on addressing their needs for the coming supplementary and compartment exams. Once these are done, the same strategy as the second cohort will be applied to them.